


We'll Meet Again

by RedesignxRebuildxReclaim



Category: Red Dead Redemption
Genre: Angst, F/M, Fluff, Fluff and Angst, Fluff and Humor, Friendship, Friendship/Love, Hurt/Comfort, Romantic Fluff, Slow Burn, Smut
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-28
Updated: 2018-12-28
Packaged: 2019-09-29 10:11:52
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,113
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17201567
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/RedesignxRebuildxReclaim/pseuds/RedesignxRebuildxReclaim
Summary: Katrina Vanderwent and her best friend Simon James get mixed up with the Van Der Linde gang to help them sell some stolen bonds. The two find their place among the gang, even as the group struggles to get themselves together to escape the heat from pinkertons and rival gangs growing closer every day. In the mess Katrina manages to find close friendship with some of the outlaws and possibly something more. But with each day growing harder for the group to find their footing in a changing world what will become of Katrina and the Van Der Linde gang?





	We'll Meet Again

Katrina Vanderwent hated small towns like Strawberry. Towns like Valentine were bad enough. You could find some of the worst of humanity in Valentine. But somehow Strawberry was worse. 

It had even more bottom of the barrel racists and sexists than Valentine, and less excitement on top of it to boot. You couldn't have paid her to be hanging out here in their small dump of a saloon. And yet, here she was.

"Smile Katarina." She glanced up at her best friend Simon James and gave him the middle finger. He knew she hated it when people mispronounced her name and called her Katarina. People were constantly getting it wrong. 

"Be glad I'm even here in this dumpy town with you." She countered and took a sip of her whiskey. Her face instinctively scrunched up in repulsion she tried to hide from her friend. 

"Big fan of whiskey are you?" her friend's dark brown eyes glittered with laughter. "Bite me." She scowled back.

"You know damn well you never would have let me come here alone for this meeting." She had to admit that he _was_ right. Simon had been contacted by some outlaws known as the Van Der Linde gang. Some man named Hosea had been pointed his way because he was in need of someone who could sell some stolen bonds. 

But as smart as Simon was when it came to keeping his illegal activities secret, he wasn't at all street smart. So Katrina was the ever present right hand that travelled everywhere with him. 

At 5’3" and only 120 pounds, she was almost entirely immune to the scrutiny of the men he was constantly dealing with. It was perfect. They usually assumed she was his lady, or just a whore. Either way it benefitted her and Simon because it was to their detriment to underestimate her and try to be slick. She was deadly with a gun or a knife as a few men had come to discover. 

She preferred to remain peaceful but she had no qualms with acting and killing someone if it meant keeping her or Simon safe. 

"That's the men I'm meeting with" Simon drew her out of her thoughts and nodded towards three men by a door towards the back. One was an older man, tall and skinny with a friendly looking face. Another was tall and muscular with a handsome face that was fixed in a scowl she had to admit she related to at this current moment. The last one was much younger than the other two, with an attractive face and ginger hair. 

"You know what to do if anything goes wrong." She held his gaze and took his hand in hers. "Be careful Simon. This gang is rumored to be pretty serious."

"I'm always careful." Simon stood up and gently pressed a kiss to her cheek. He tipped back what was left of both of their whiskeys, to her relief, and headed back towards the men. He greeted the oldest man with a handshake and followed them into the back room. 

She wished she could have joined him in the meeting, but that would have given her away as more than just a companion. She ordered a beer and sighed as she tried to find some way to entertain herself while she waited to make sure Simon would be okay. She wasn't _too_ worried about this meeting. Sure, she'd heard the Van Der Linde gang was rough, but they still needed Simon at the moment. 

She'd be more nervous during the next meeting when actual money would be in play. She glanced back over to the door they'd disappeared into and met a dark haired man's eyes as he made his way to the bar. She didn't mean to stare but he had three scars running across a very handsome face that drew her attention. 

"Evening Ma'am" He tipped his head at her in a friendly greeting when he noticed her staring and waved the bartender over to order a whiskey. "Are you alright ma’am? I don't believe I've ever seen someone look so miserable to be some place before." The man commented, a small smirk playing at his lips that annoyed her. 

"Well being in saloons full of disgusting pig farmers isn't what I call a good time."

"Mind me asking what brings you to a bar full of disgusting pig farmers then?" The man's voice was gravely and undeniably attractive and was the only saving grace to his annoying her right now. He shifted so he was resting his hip on the bar and met her eyes. 

"I'm just accompanying a friend. He has a business meeting."

"And he left you all alone with the likes of us scumbags huh?"

"It's certainly not appropriate for a lady to accompany a man to his business meeting."

The man's lips turned up into an amused smile and she hated the butterflies that stirred in her stomach at it. "No, certainly not." he sounded sarcastic which warmed her to him slightly. 

"I hope you don't mind my saying but you don't seem like the usual Strawberry saloon crowd."

"Given your opinion on the usual Strawberry saloon crowd no offense was taken." He replied easily. "And I assure you, I'm not the usual Strawberry saloon crowd." he took a long sip of his whiskey and then looked her over, earning a light blush. "You don't seem like a simple lady accompanying a gentleman on business." 

"Well unfortunately that's all I am sir." she replied innocently. "My pa always said it was best to be seen in town because you never know when a suitor will notice you. So my friend brings me along.”

The man's eyes lit up as he laughed gently. "Is that so?" his raspy voice added a sexiness to the simple retort. 

"It is." She lied, offering a polite smile in an attempt to disarm his line of questioning. 

Her heart hammered in her chest and a deep blush spread across her cheeks as the man leaned in closer to her and placed a hand on her thigh. Right where she had her pistol strapped to her leg. 

"And why would such a polite lady need a pistol strapped to her thigh?” He spoke softly, his lips next to her ear so no one else would overhear them. His voice sent a shiver over her, sending the hair on her arms standing up. 

"A lady still needs protection sir. Perhaps doubly so in a place like Strawberry." 

"Or maybe you're not the average lady." His gaze never broke from hers and her breath hitched in her throat. She had been accompanying Simon for close to two years now and no one had ever so much as batted an eyelash at her being there. 

Who was this man? And how had he known she was hiding a gun beneath the skirt of her dress. "Who are you?" She leveled him with a serious expression. 

"Name's John Marston." He smiled and held his hand out to her. "And you?"

"Katrina Vanderwent." She cautiously shook his hand. She didn't see a point in lying to him about her name. If he'd figured her out as quickly as he had, she was quite sure he could find that out as well.

"Well Katrina Vanderwent, what really brings you here to beautiful Strawberry?"

"I really am accompanying my friend to a business meeting."

John seemed genuinely surprised by her response. “So you are accompanying Simon James? And you’re just his friend.”

"Yes."

"Damn, I had you pegged as someone he'd hired."

"Like an outlaw?” The thought made her laugh.

"Or at least a bounty hunter of some sort."

"Just a childhood friend." She giggled. "Sorry to disappoint."

"A childhood friend?" John's nose wrinkled in distaste. "If your friend just gives some childhood friend a gun and trusts them to watch his back it's no wonder Hosea is so keen on him." 

"This childhood friend can hold her own." She shot back, her annoyance clear in her tone. He sure had guts to be so god damn rude and assumptive. 

"is that so?" John perked up, looking almost visibly impressed. 

"Maybe one day you'll find out."

"Why not now? Down for some friendly competition while we wait on our ‘associates’ as you'd call them.” The man had to be on a mission to annoy her as he put air quotes around the word associates. 

"I'll have to take a rain check.” she shot back. 

"Aw, come on. Don't be a stick in the mud." John goaded her on with a disapproving frown. 

"I'm not an idiot. And I was not born yesterday John Marston." 

"What does that mean?" he feigned hurt, a hand being placed over his heart dramatically. 

"I'm not going to let you coax me away from Simon. And frankly that makes me worry you and your men are up to something."

"Miss Vanderwent, I'm hurt you'd even think that."

"You outlaw types _are_ usually so honest and upstanding. I can see why you’d be taken aback by that.”

"You and your friend are the ones associating with us outlaws. So what does that make you?"

"Idiots."

"You know, I like you Miss Vanderwent. Or is it Mrs. Vanderwent?"

Kat felt her stomach flip flop with butterflies at his obvious flirting. 

"Neither. Just call me Kat." 

"Not a fan of formalities then?"

"Not typically, no." She replied. "Are you always this much of a bother Mr. Marston?"

"Absolutely." A brilliant smile lit up his face. "Ask any of the gang I run with. They'll tell you I'm worse than you even think. I'm sure of that." 

"I believe that." She laughed, a genuine smile playing at her lips for the first time since she’d reached this run down saloon.

"I'm not trying to lead you away from your friend. But I do know Hosea, and the man can go on for far too long about business deals. I just figured I could be a gentleman and we can both be entertained while we wait."

"Oh, so _that's_ what you're trying to do. Got it." She shot back sarcastically. 

"God damn woman. You don't flatter easy."

"If by flatter you mean 'fall for some bullshit' then no, I don't." 

"You may just be my favorite person I've met in a while Miss Vanderwent.” John's blue eyes met hers, sending a soft blush over her cheeks. 

“And you are a flirt Mr. Marston. I'm sure one of these other ladies would be far more susceptible to your charms."

"So I _am_ charming then." John flashed her a wide smile. "And I ain't interested in none of these other ladies. But _you_ are very interesting to me." John motioned for a new round of whiskey for them both but Kat held her hand up and told the bartender she didn’t need one.

"You claim you're a good shot, why not prove it? Just a quick friendly competition?"

"I don't really feel as if I need to prove myself to you." 

"Come on" John's voice switched to low and seductive. "Do you really want to sit in this nasty saloon waiting for your friend? Let's go have some fun." 

"What do you even have in mind?" She sighed. She wasn't officially giving in, but she was getting curious what his big plan was for all this pestering. 

"There's a little shooting range right outside of Strawberry. My friends and I have it set up for practice. And mostly to embarrass the weaker shots of the group."

"Lucky them." She laughed. 

"We can go and see who can shoot the most bottles in 30 seconds."

She had to admit fresh air and a shoot off with a handsome outlaw sounded far more exciting than sitting at this dingy saloon. But if something went wrong and something happened to Simon she would never forgive herself for stepping out. 

"Promise me no harm will come to Simon and I'll go. But only to have a friendly competition and come right back. 

"There's no reason for anything to happen to him. Hosea is just going to make sure he understands what working with us entails and that he's okay with it. No harm will come to your friend."

"Fine. I guess we can go." She sighed, fighting against her better judgement. 

"Bartender, I'll take a bottle to go." John slapped money on the counter and was handed an unopened bottle of whiskey. "Let's go then." John surprised her and offered her his arm. 

"Didn't take you for the gentleman type."

"Funny how assumptions work." John glanced down and winked at her with a sly smile. 

Kat hooked her arm with his and let him lead her outside. "I'll have to ride with you." She warned him. 

"Don't know how to ride?"

"I do. I just don't have a horse. Mine passed away recently. I don't have the money to afford a new horse." 

"I'm sorry to hear that." She was surprised that John sounded sincere in his apology. "I appreciate that. He was a good horse. Had him since I was only eleven years old.” She placed her hand in his and allowed him to boost her up onto the back of his horse. He climbed up onto the saddle and instructed her not to be shy about getting a better grip around his waist. She listened to him and wrapped her arms more tightly around him.

She was sure she had to be blushing from how closely she was pressed against his back. She was just hoping that he wouldn't be able to tell thanks to how dark the night was. 

She looked around, unable to shake the nerves in her gut about leaving Simon behind. She was there to protect him and ran off with a handsome outlaw at the first chance. 

"Here we are." John eased his horse to a stop and hopped off, helping her down as well. Once she was safely on the ground, he reached onto the back of the horse and handed her a rifle. "You'll never beat me with some little pistol."

Kat took it with a polite thank you and aimed and shot one of the targets in one fluid motion. She hid a smile at the way John's eyes lit up in surprised amusement. "Well Miss Vanderwent, color me impressed."

"If you call me Miss Vanderwent again I swear I'm gonna deck you.

"I'm sorry." He sure didn't sound sorry. “You're just cute when you're mad." 

Was he _really_ purposely attempting to annoy her out of some stupid flirtation? "And you're just plain annoying." She shot back, knowing she could be playing with fire as she didn't know how he'd take her comments. 

"You know, you won't believe this but I _have_ been told that before."

"That _is_ surprising" She deadpanned back. "So... are we gonna shoot? Or are you getting scared you'll lose?"

“Scared?" John scoffed with a light hearted laugh. "Darlin' I ain’t even mildly concerned." 

"You'll regret that soon enough." 

"I do love a confident woman." 

"And I _do_ love a silent man." 

"You an' me won't get along then." 

"I guess we'll find out if we'll get along based on whether you're a sore loser or not."

"Guess we will." John took up position facing the bottle setup, gun held loosely in his hands and pointing towards the ground. She noticed the way he rolled his shoulders just slightly to loosen himself up. "I'll go first and show you how it's done."

"Am I supposed to just trust you to count for me fairly. And you me?"

"I am an honorable man Miss Van-" John saw the scowl forming at her lips and corrected himself. "Katrina."

"Miss Vankatrina is a new one I must say."

"Sorry." 

John's smirk made her giggle and she shook her head at him. "An honorable outlaw. Who knew."

"The most honorable one you'll find."

"An honorable outlaw sounds about as real as a promiscuous nun."

John let out a belly laugh that lit his features up even in the dark of the night. "The mouth on you."

"I told you I'm not really a lady." 

"Well, you didn't even need to tell me that. Most of the fancy ladies I come in contact with don't have pistols strapped to their thighs. And none of them would give a scarred outlaw the time of day." 

"Well fancy ladies are missing out on a lot then." She countered. She bit her lip as he smiled at her compliment and hoped her flushed cheeks weren't too noticeable. "Count the thirty seconds for me okay?" John asked her, earning a quick nod. 

"I'm gonna count down from 3" she warned him. “3… 2… 1…” 

At one he aimed his rifle and let bullets fly. He was genuinely impressive and easily one of the best shots she'd ever seen firsthand. It actually served to worry her a fair amount. If he was this good at shooting what did it mean for the rest of the Van Der Linde gang?

Her and Simon had mostly helped out lower level criminals before. Maybe they had messed up getting involved with this gang. 

When she hit 30 John immediately lowered his gun. "There, 32 bottles in 30 seconds."

"I can beat that." Kat lied, her false confidence hiding her sudden onset of nerves.

There was no way she was beating 32 bottles, but she would try to get as close as she could. She hadn't counted on him being quite as good as he said he was. 

"Alright then." John was definitely pleased with her continued confidence. "Let me reset some bottles for you and I look forward to this." 

Kat watched as he walked across the shooting field and helped reset everything for her. She couldn't help but take him in and study him. It's what she'd been forced to do in her time helping Simon with his line of work. 

John held himself with so much confidence and swagger, but there was something holding him back. She wasn't sure what it was, but she could see it in certain moments. He would hesitate and then instantly regroup and bring that bravado back. She thought he seemed like a good man, and she was hoping she was right. 

"Alright" John made it back to her side. "You're all set. I'll count down for you."

She nodded and took a breath to steady herself as her nerves kicked in. She was a great shot, she _could_ do this. She hated how much she wanted to impress this random stranger. 

“3… 2… 1…" John counted down for her and she snapped into action. She managed to have her nerves melt away the second she pulled the trigger and she shot rapid fire at the bottles. By the time her 30 seconds was done she had only reached 28 bottles. But for 30 seconds she couldn't be mad with that score. 

"God damn!” John whooped out excitedly, "That was some god damn shooting Katrina Vanderwent."

"It was only 28, I didn't even win." 

"Only 28?" John laughed as he shook his head at her. "That's better than some of the guys in my own gang could get." 

"Oh stop it." She couldn't hold in a small giggle. "Don't try to flatter me now just because I lost."

"I'm serious. I'd ask you to teach Bill how to shoot, but you'd never speak to any of us again if I made you deal with Bill for as long as that would take." 

"You're horrible." She walked over and handed him back his rifle. 

"You haven't had the displeasure of meeting Bill yet. That man has a good heart. At least I think he does. But he's a moron."

"Well thank you. Genuinely." Kat smiled up at him, "This was fun. You were right."

"Thank you for joining me. I may need to see if you can help me out with some work in the future."

"You'd want _me_ to come help _you_?" Kat scoffed at the idea. "You really are off your rocker John Marston."

"I don't see how." he brushed a strand of hair that had fallen into her face behind her ear and smiled at the way her cheeks flushed at his touch. "A beautiful woman who can handle a gun _and_ seems intelligent is much better than some of the men I've had to rely on." 

Kat felt her stomach twisting with butterflies as she held John's gaze. Her heart was hammering so loudly in her chest she was positive he had to be able to hear it. "We really need to get back." her voice came out shaky and she could tell by the smile the flashed across his lips that he noticed the effect he had on her. "I really hate leaving Simon alone."

"I'll get you back to your man." John helped her up onto his horse once again. 

"He's _not_ my man." She corrected him. "He's just my best friend."

"Well I would be lying if I said that wasn't good news to me." John climbed up onto the saddle and she wrapped her arms around him again. She didn't know what to say in response to that. Her body felt like it would melt away into butter at his words.

There was absolutely no way she was going to let herself fall for some outlaw. But she had to admit having such a handsome man flirt with her so openly wasn't a completely unwelcome occurrence. 

When they got back to the saloon John and Kat took their spots back at the bar and waited for their friends. "Want a whiskey?" John asked her before he waved the bartender over. 

"Oh, no thank you." She replied quickly. She really didn't feel like embarrassing herself in front of him with the stupid faces she couldn't help when she drank that foul stuff. "Don't you still have nearly that whole bottle?"

"Yeah, I'll save that for later." John flagged the bartender down and got himself a double whiskey. "Not a fan of whiskey huh?"

"You could say that." She nodded. "I think it tastes like dirt. Not even dirt. It’s somehow worse than that.”

"The taste grows on you."

"I don't know that I plan on giving it that chance."

"All it takes is a few of em’ to get you drunk enough that you wouldn't notice." 

"In that case do you think it's that it grows on you? Or is it just so foul your tastebuds go numb to it?"

"My friend Arthur would like you. You're both smartasses."

She pretended to be offended by the comment and John burst into loud laughter. "Well aren't you just the rudest boy I've met."

"I meant it as a compliment." John choked out a reply through his laughter and she found herself losing to her own fit of laughter right along with him. "Stop it John Marston, you're making my stomach hurt." 

"I've _also_ been told that before by a few ladies."

"You're a big hit with the ladies then huh?"

"They love me so much I make their stomachs churn." 

John tipped back his glass of whiskey and finished it off. "You don't seem too sick to your stomach yet though." His blue eyes fixed on hers and she felt her breath hitch again. 

"You don't give up do you?"

"On flirting with a pretty lady?" John smiled, "Not unless they ask me to." 

Kat was tempted to ask him to stop. Stop before she got more wrapped up in him. But a part of her didn't actually want him to stop. At least not yet. 

He was very handsome and she was enjoying the playful banter with him. Even if she knew it wasn't about to lead anywhere. She wasn’t about to let it lead anywhere. 

“Marston!" A loud, gruff voice rang across the small saloon and John snapped his head up towards the door her friend had disappeared through. She saw the handsome older man in the door and he motioned for the two of them. "Both of you come back here."

"Shall we?" John asked her, voice full of over the top grandeur to make her laugh as he offered her his arm. She ignored the way her stomach had dropped to her feet at the older man's order. What if something _had_ gone wrong while she was running off with handsome outlaws and now she was about to get pulled to the back to be executed along with Simon? 

"Let's go I guess." she shakily looped her arm under his and let him lead her to the back. "Relax, they probably just want to meet you if Simon mentioned you'll be working with him." John leaned in close to Kat's ear and whispered words of comfort. Kat met his eyes and hoped he saw how thankful she was for him picking up on her sudden fear.

“Arthur." John greeted the handsome older man, "I was just telling my new friend Kat here all about you." 

"Lucky me." Arthur sighed, heavy annoyance in his voice. "Just move it along Marston." 

Kat's eyes immediately landed on her friend and it felt like a hundred pound weight had been lifted from her when she saw he was fine and was just sitting at a table smoking a cigar with the ginger and the older man. 

She searched Simon's face for any sign of distress and when he noticed her anxiety he smiled to ease her concern. "Hosea, this is my best friend and business partner Katrina Vanderwent." Simon motioned from the oldest man to her. "Katrina this is Hosea Matthews."

"Nice to meet you sir." She unhooked her arm from John's and crossed the room to shake Hosea's hand. She looked over and met the younger ginger man's eyes for a second and looked back down at her feet when he flashed her a beautiful megawatt smile. 

"And I'm Sean MacGuire." The ginger spoke up, an Irish accent catching her off guard. She met his gaze again and smiled at him. "I'm Katrina, just Kat is fine though."

"Well its a pleasure to meet ya' just Kat." Sean's expression danced with mischief and she bit her lip to keep from giggling at the dumb joke. His turquoise eyes glittered in the candlelight coming from the table and she had to force herself to look away and meet the third man's eyes. 

"Arthur Morgan" he held out his hand and she shook it. He had a nice firm handshake and she respected that he didn't shake her hand weakly like most men did. Men always acted like she would break if they so much as touched her. 

“Kat.” She replied, friendly smile aimed at the gruff older gentleman. “It's very nice to meet you Arthur."

"So your friend Simon was telling us you're his business partner and that you're actually his muscle." Hosea looked her over and didn't bother to hide the small chuckle of amusement. 

“Well, muscle may not be the correct word." She apologized with a nervous giggle. She shot Simon a look and her friend laughed at her discomfort. "But I am the one who handles any problems we encounter."

"Is that so?" Hosea seemed pleased by her response. 

"I can vouch for that." John spoke up from near the door. "I seen her shoot." 

" _How_ did you see her shoot?" Arthur's tone was strained as he met John’s gaze. 

"Just calm down Arthur.” John replied with an annoyed sigh. “I invited her to shoot while we waited for ya’ll to finish up." 

"You invited her to shoot?" Arthur sighed. "Boy, it's a miracle you've made it to the age you are now. You’re so god damn dense sometimes.”

Sean laughed from the table as Arthur berated John and covered his mouth quickly to try to hide his amusement. Arthur spun around and pointed at the Irish man with a quickness that almost made Kat laugh. "Don't start with me kid, you're no better. Both of you will run off at the drop of a hat to try to find something entertaining to do. One day you're gonna run right into trouble and get yourselves killed." 

"Relax Arthur we can handle ourselves" Sean laughed, earning a look of disapproval from Arthur. 

"Didn't we just have to save you from the noose not a week ago?" 

"Ya' know ya' keep bringing that up." Sean complained, rolling his eyes at the older man. 

"Because it keeps being relevant." Arthur snapped back. "Now can we get back to business?"

"Yeah, yeah, let's get back to it then." Sean waved off Arthur's anger and disarmed the older man with another smile. "So, you're good with a gun eh?" Sean motioned for her to sit down next to him at the table. "I love a lass who can handle herself." 

"Can you idiots not scare our new friends away please?" Hosea took control of the room back. "I apologize on behalf of these scoundrels Miss Vanderwent." Hosea apologized. 

"Careful, if you call her Miss Vanderwent she'll deck you." John teased her. 

"Maybe that's only in your case." She shot back. John smiled at her and nodded in amused approval. "It's really fine Mr. Matthews. You don't need to apologize for anything."

"Go ahead, you can take a seat." Hosea motioned to the empty chair Sean had pointed out. Before she could reach the chair Sean stood up and pulled it out for her. 

“Um… Thank you." she smiled politely at him, trying not to show how amused she was by how quickly he'd tried to jump up to help her. 

"We were talking to your friend here about what it means to get wrapped up with us. We're bad men Miss Vanderwent. But not the worst out there. And quite frankly we have enemies trying to hunt us down that work for the law and against it. It's dangerous to work with us and we need to know we can trust you. But we also need to know that you don't mind taking on that risk of being associated with us."

"With all due respect sir, I'm not worried about the men hunting you down. I can handle myself." her confidence startled the three men she’d just met. Simon just grinned in approval like he always did when she spoke up for herself. "And you can trust both of us. If you need to test that loyalty in some way I'm sure we wouldn't mind doing whatever we had to do." 

"We are willing to extend our trust to you without a test." Hosea replied, "But we do have to warn you that if either of you cross us we _will_ kill you both." 

"That goes without saying. I'd expect no less." 

"Your friend is as smart as you said" Hosea commented to Simon who eagerly nodded his agreement. "I trust her with my life. She's the only person in this world you'll catch me saying that about." 

“Well, see about getting those bonds sold and if everything goes smoothly we'll see about getting you two some more action."

"I'll get it done." Simon shook Hosea's hand and the two men both stood up. 

"We'll be in touch then. It was nice meeting you both." Hosea shook both of their hands. “Gentleman, let's go." Hosea lead the men and left the room first. Arthur tipped his hat at the two of them and Kat politely waved goodbye to the older man who disappeared out the door right behind Hosea. 

Sean stood up and smiled mischievously at Kat and Simon. "Once you sell those bonds we'll have a right party to celebrate. Mark my words.”

"Let's go Sean." John sighed and motioned for the younger Irish man to follow Hosea and Arthur. "See ya's both soon." Sean gave a small half wave and winked at Kat.

"It was nice meeting you Sean." Kat held in a giggle at Sean’s goofiness, "Same to you John." 

A ghost of a smile played at John's lips and he took her hand in his, kissing the back of her hand with a soft lingering kiss. "Thanks for keeping me entertained Miss Vanderwent.” His eyes danced with mischief as he called her by her formal name once again.

She couldn’t help the stupid smile his comment caused and pretended to reach to smack him. John laughed and grabbed her hand to stop her. "Until next time Kat.” His smile brightened up his features and she couldn’t pull her gaze away from his.

"Until next time." she agreed shyly. 

"Eh' how come you get to stay behind and flirt” An Irish accent came booming from the hallway behind John. Sean poked his head back into the room and shot John a dirty look before casting Kat a big goofy smile again. “Hello there miss. You know, we can grab a drink if you two wanna get to know me an' Johnny boy here a bit better." Sean offered and Kat was tempted to take him up on it. She was curious about him, he radiated such a positive energy she had a hard time picturing him running with an outlaw gang, and yet, here he was. And she wouldn’t mind a bit more time to spend with John either. 

"Get outside.” John groaned, his unique voice sounding extra snarly as he scolded Sean. John rolled his eyes and offered Simon and Kat one last wave before he pushed the ginger man out of the room. 

"Well you certainly made an impression." Simon laughed from behind her as she walked over and joined him at the small table. 

"Yeah being the only woman around a bunch of men tends to cause that to happen." 

"That ginger one, Sean, his mouth practically dropped open to the floor when you walked in. I don't think you're what he expected."

"What did you do? Talk me up like I'd be some big brute?”

"I may have" Simon stubbed out what was left of the cigar he'd been smoking. "It always makes it that much more amusing when I talk you up as some big tough brute of a woman and then you walk in, all tiny and polite. It's the little things."

"I don't know why I care about you like I do." She rolled her eyes. "You're such an idiot."

"The only idiot you got."

"Thank goodness for that. I couldn’t handle another.” She smiled. "So, do you think it's wise we got mixed up with them? That man, John Marston, he was the best shot I've ever seen."

"We just need to uphold our end of the bargain and we should be fine. They're one of the few outlaw groups that are rumored to have some semblance of morals. Best we get mixed up with them over any of the other larger gangs." 

"I trust you" She nodded. "You know I've always got your back. And I'll always trust you."

"I do" Simon took her hand and squeezed it reassuringly. "You're the only family I've got Kat."

"You're the only one I've got too." She agreed. 

"If anything doesn't feel right with anything you tell me. I trust your gut." Simon spoke quietly. 

"It doesn't feel wrong. I just worry we would be over our head with a gang like this. It's just the two of us."

"The two of us need to find our place somewhere. We won't last long running scams like this if it's just the two of us. We need to think about the future and how we're gonna keep ourselves safe."

"And you think this Van Der Linde gang could be that place then?"

"If we can do a good job and earn their respect and trust… I think so. Hosea speaks of them like it's a family. That's much better than Colm O'Driscoll's methods where everyone is expendable from what I hear."

"Like I said, I trust you. I'll do whatever I can to help and keep us safe."

"I know you will. When I have Katrina Vanderwent at my side I don't even worry."

"Yeah, well, maybe you can worry a little bit just to make sure you don't go and get yourself killed."

Simon pulled her over to him in a quick hug. "You worry too much."

"Someone has to make up for you not worrying at all."

"Good thing I have you then."

"Yeah, good thing." She agreed, "Now can we _please_ get out of this shit hole of a saloon?"


End file.
